|

|

HBO Go, VEVO, Verizon FiOS TV, Comcast Xfinity coming to Xbox 360

As promised, Xbox TV is real, and it's happening. Microsoft has officially announced its first partner today: Verizon.

As promised, Xbox TV is real, and it's happening. Microsoft has officially announced a number of new partners today, Verizon being the first.

FiOS TV and Internet customers with Xbox Live Gold memberships will be able to view "popular live TV channels through their Xbox consoles without any extra hardware," the announcement details. In addition to providing "multichannel streaming HDTV," the announcement notes that the service will also integrate with Kinect.

By using Kinect, "customers will be able to easily discover and enjoy content in extraordinary new ways, all without having to pick up a remote control." It seems likely that Microsoft's highly-touted Bing voice search will help power the Kinect-enabled TV experience.

No date has been set on when the service will go live. The announcement simply notes "this holiday."

Update: In addition, Microsoft has announced that Comcast Xfinity is also coming to Xbox 360, providing Gold members with "access to over 10,000 episodes of catch-up TV." As with Verizon FiOS, it will be Kinect-enabled.

HBO Go will also be available on Xbox Live as a standalone app. HBO subscribers will have access to "unlimited access to over 1,400 of your favorite HBO shows, including HBO original series, hit movies, sports, comedy and more."

Other entertainment apps will be offered on the Xbox Live service, including: